Beacon Energy today announced that the E202 drilling rig contracted to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rhein Petroleum, is expected to mobilise on 12th June for the planned Schwarzbach-2 ("SCHB-2") development well within the Erfelden Field, onshore South West Germany. This rig is fully-crewed and has been contracted from RED Drilling & Services GmbH ("RED Drilling").

The rig is scheduled to be on location and operational by 19th June. Drilling operations are expected to take in the region of 25 days to reach the prognosed TD drilling depth of 2255m (1709m True Vertical Depth), with an additional 12 days planned for reservoir clean-up and production testing.

The drilling pad is located next to the Schwarzbach facility which is owned and operated by Rhein Petroleum and it is anticipated that once completed, the SCHB-2 well will be tied-in to these existing production facilities to enable immediate production from the well.

Larry Bottomley, Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Energy, commented:
"The Rhein Petroleum team is doing an excellent job in conjunction with RED Drilling to enable the start of the drilling programme so quickly after the RTO and the readmission of the Company on to AIM. This well is the first of potentially four development wells to be drilled at Erfelden over the following 2 years and is the next step in delivering the self-funding business model created by the acquisition of Rhein Petroleum.

The SCHB-2 well represents a material value catalyst for Beacon.  In the success case, this well will deliver a step-change in production and cashflow which will enable the Company to fund further value enhancing activity across the portfolio.  We look forward to providing further updates on the progress of the SCHB-2 well as appropriate."

About the Erfelden Field

The Erfelden oilfield is the most northern oil field in the Upper Rhine Graben and is comprised of four juxtaposed structural segments: the mainly depleted Kuehkopf segment, the producing Schwarzbach Main segment, the discovered Stockstadt Mitte segment and the unproven Schwarzbach South segment.

The westerly Kuehkopf segment was discovered by Exxon and produced oil between 1956 and 1985, who also operated the adjacent Stockstadt field. Both accumulations were discovered, appraised and developed from the subsurface description from legacy 2D seismic data.

Rhein Petroleum subsequently secured the licence (Operator, 100%) and acquired an extensive 3D seismic survey which led to the discovery of the Schwarzbach Main segment in 2015 when the Schwarzbach-1 well (SCHB-1) discovered oil in the Oligocene Pechelbronner-Schichten ("PBS") sandstones in a North-South trending structural high at northern end of the Erfelden Field. The Schwarzbach Main segment is still producing light oil (37-38 API) from the SCHB-1a well through the Schwarzbach Production facility which is owned and operated by Rhein Petroleum.

The Schwarzbach-2 development well (SCHB-2) is targeting the Stockstadt Mitte segment and will "twin" the  Stockstadt Mitte-1 well (SK-M1), drilled by Exxon in 1986 which proved hydrocarbons in this segment. This well encountered oil in the PBS sandstones and in the shallower Meletta-Schichten sands ("ME"). The independent Competent Person's Report published by the Company in December 2022 assigned 2P reserves of 3.784mmbbls to the Stockstadt Mitte segment.

The development plan for the Stockstadt Mitte segment envisages 3 wells - the SCHB-2 production well  and subsequently an additional 2 wells; a producer and a water injector. The aim is that these additional wells will be drilled over the course of the next 18 months funded from the free cash flow generated by production from the SCHB-2 well.

The drill pad has been prepared immediately adjacent to the Schwarzbach Production facility and 3 conductor pipes have been set to a depth of 85m below ground level. A flowline from the drilling pad to the Schwarzbach Production facility has been installed to facilitate tie-back and hook-up as these wells are completed and put into production.

The Schwarzbach South segment is undrilled, with 2C Contingent Resources of 2.4mmbbls described in the CPR. This segment will be the target of future development drilling.